The Big Stuff Project

Cloquet Voyageur

2011-11-16T22:20:00.001-06:00

June 25th, 2011 - Cloquet, MN

There are various voyageur statues scattered across northern Minnesota. This one is located in Cloquet on an island in the St. Louis River. The plaque on it's base calls it "A Cloquet Bicentennial Project". It was dedicated on July 5th, 1976 by Senator Hubert H. Humphrey and Representative Jim Oberstar. It's made of fiberglass and is still in pretty good shape. Up close you can definitely see some wear and tear and some vandalism, but until you get pretty close to it it looks really good. It also didn't hurt that the sun was hitting it at a great angle for viewing.

Dala Horse - Cloquet

2011-10-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

June 25th, 2011 - Cloquet, MN

This oversized Dala horse stands in front of Berquist Imports, a Scandinavian gift shop, along the main road through Cloquet. A much larger one exists in Mora, MN. I don't have any information on this one. The statue itself is probably around 12 feet tall. For more on Dala horses, see the Mora post.

Buffalo House

2011-10-13T21:18:00.000-05:00

June 25th, 2011 - Duluth, MN

This giant buffalo on a trailer sits just off of I-35 southwest of Duluth. It's used as a sign for the Buffalo House restaurant and bar... and campground... and sports complex. The Buffalo House is down the road past the giant buffalo. The buffalo itself is not the prettiest giant buffalo I've ever seen. The road ditches around the buffalo were pretty wet, so we opted not to go up close. Instead we took this shot from the road and headed on to Cloquet.

Fiberglass Moose of Minnesota

2011-09-14T00:11:00.000-05:00

June 25th, 2011 - Moose Lake

We came across a few large (nearly life-sized since moose are large anyway) fiberglass moose in northern Minnesota. The first was in Moose Lake. A moose is an obvious mascot for Moose Lake. It's located on the main road through town next to the tourist information building.

June 25th, 2011 - Biwabik

A very similar moose resides in Biwabik. This one, however, is based on a children's book. Honk The Moose was written in 1935 and was based on a true story about 2 boys who discovered a moose in the town of Biwabik. The boys called him Honk because of the honking noise he would make. Most of the characters in the book were based on actual residents of Biwabik. The book won some awards including the 1936 Newbery Medal Runner-Up. Back around 2001, the mayor of Biwabik acquired the rights to the story and brought it back into print.

The fiberglass Honk The Moose stands in a park in downtown Biwabik. The park also has a nice building for holding wedding receptions that can make you feel a little uncomfortable when you drove into town for the sole purpose of taking pictures of/with Honk but instead you're almost crashing a wedding. Not that that's what happened or anything...

July 1, 2011 - Karlstad

Finally, a third moose stands in a park along Highway 59 in Karlstad. The city of Karlstad makes the claim of "Moose Capital of the North". Since moose are native to northern climates, this begs the question what is the Moose Capital of the South? Moose Lake? When your town is about a half hour drive from Canada, almost everything is "The South".

"World's Largest Walleye"

2011-08-28T21:02:00.001-05:00

June 25th, 2011 - Rush City

The sign next to this giant fiberglass fish makes the claim that it is the world's largest walleye. It's not. Not even close. Rush City also makes the claim as the Walleye Capital of the World. According to Roadside America, there are several other cities that make this very claim.

This fish was allegedly caught in Rush Lake by Paul Bunyan. The fish allegedly weighed 1999 pounds and 15.5 ounces, just shy of a ton. Paul allegedly used a 62 foot white pine for a rod, a 3 ton logger's winch for a reel, and a 1 inch manila rope for his line. If you're wondering what kind of bait to use to catch a giant fiberglass walleye, Paul used a 35 pound tiger muskie... allegedly.

Bonus: World's Largest Totem Pole, Woodsy Owl, a fisherman, and a real castle

2011-08-13T18:53:00.000-05:00

July 31 to August 4, 2010 - Northern California

This is the last old one before I get into the new ones from our recent trip. Last summer we went to visit my wife's sister and her husband who live in Eureka, CA. They were nice enough to take us to see the local big stuff.

The World's Largest Totem Pole resides in nearby McKinleyville. There are a number of places along the Pacific coast that claim the world's largest totem pole, often with some kind of qualifier like "from one log" or something. At 160 feet, this one is definitely a contender. It was carved from one continuous log and weighs 57,000 pounds. The base that holds it up weighs 214,000 pounds.

Our trip started by flying into Sacramento, where they drove down from Eureka to meet us. We spent that evening at the California State Fair, mostly because they had a beer fest that night. While exploring the fair grounds we came across a fiberglass Woodsy Owl.

The next day we spent in the Napa Valley. One of our stops was a winery called Castello di Amorosa. It's a real castle. It was built using parts of old European castles and anything they couldn't find was built by hand to be as authentic as possible. It was pretty neat and well worth the tour admission. The wine was also very good. We ended up buying a few bottles.

Finally, while in Eureka we went to the harbor and saw a large fisherman statue. It's surrounded by water, so you can't go right up to it. It's a memorial statue and it honors those "whom the sea sustained...and those it claimed." It was dedicated in 1981.

Lou T. Fisk - World's Largest Codfish

2011-07-17T16:55:00.000-05:00

September 22nd, 2009 - Madison, MN

In 1982 two Madison Chamber members suggested to the city council that Madison should be nicknamed the Lutefisk Capital of the United States. So, naturally, they ordered a 25-foot-long fiberglass codfish from F.A.S.T Corp. in Sparta, WI. The project costs $8,000 (a bargain) and was funded by the Madison Chamber of Commerce.

Lou was officially dedicated in a ceremony on June 23rd, 1983 where he was paraded through town and placed in Jacobson Park at the south end of town. Lou was designed to be placed on a travel trailer so he could continue to participate in parades. He has even traveled the country including stops in Madison, WI, Madison, OH, Madison, NJ, Madison, NY, and Madison, CT.

On July 31st, 2008 a powerful storm packing winds of over 100 mph knocked Lou off of his base damaging the fish. He was sent back to F.A.S.T. and repaired. The repairs took about 6 months.

Each November, as part of Norsefest, the town holds a lutefisk eating contest, so if you've been itching to stuff your face with some delicious lutefisk then you should travel to Madison in November.

City of Madison's Lou T. Fisk page

Paul Bunyan's Anchor, or The World's Largest Coat Hanger

2011-07-09T17:20:00.000-05:00

September 22, 2009 - Ortonville, MN

We were a little disappointed with this one. We were hoping for something a bit more anchory. While I'm sure it's effective, it looks more like a hanger made from a huge slab of granite and some giant chain links.

The legend goes that Paul Bunyan was quite the fisherman and that Big Stone Lake was one of his favorite lakes to fish in. According to the plaque, "Big Stone Lake, visible here to the north-west, and the state's 10th largest, was one of Paul's favorites, not only for the variety and size of its fish, but because here he found a stone heavy enough to anchor his mammoth boat. Squared roughly from the region's famous granite, it weighed 110 tons." It goes on to say that this anchor was (conveniently) rediscovered on the eve of Minnesota's statehood centennial in 1958 and then was hoisted to the hilltop it now resides on as a memento of the state's 100th birthday.

Now this is a lovely story, but it seems to me that it has one Bunyan sized hole in it. Big Stone Lake is a large lake covering 12,610 acres and stretching 26 miles long, but it is a really shallow lake. At it's max, Big Stone Lake is only 16 feet deep. I would think a boat big enough to carry Paul alone would displace enough water that he would be scraping the bottom, if not completely stuck, but then you add a 110 ton rock too. I don't think that boat is going to be able to navigate Big Stone Lake. I wonder what happened to his boat... and boat trailer.

On the plus side. The anchor is next to the county museum. We didn't go in the actual museum, but they had some kind of wild bird exhibit thing in a separate building that was actually very interesting. They had a large and varied collection of taxidermied birds and an informational CD about 10 minutes long to guide you through the collection.

Big Stuff is Back

2011-07-06T14:31:00.000-05:00

I mean it this time. We just got back from a vacation to beautiful Crane Lake in far northern Minnesota. We have a bunch of new blog material from this trip plus I have a couple of old ones that I never did post. So stay tuned.

World's Largest Mallard

2010-01-11T16:36:00.001-06:00

September 22, 2009 - Wheaton, MN

After we stopped in Starbuck for the giant hobo, we made our way to Wheaton to see the World's Largest Mallard. The statue stands 26 feet tall and depicts a mallard taking flight from a stand of cattails. It also has the county name, Traverse, around the base and some other words that I don't remember encircling the base; looks like "Living", "Farming", and something else. The statue was designed by Robert Bruns using "a paperweight, a Grain Belt Beer ad, and a dime store statue" as models. It was constructed out of concrete in 1959 by Elmer Oslon. The statue is showing it's age a bit.

The World's Largest Mallard has helped to cement (pun intended) this region of the state as the Land O' Ducks. Unlike much of the state, this part of Minnesota doesn't have a lot o' lakes but does have plenty o' ducks.

The Giant Hobo

2009-12-18T18:18:00.001-06:00

September 22, 2009 - Starbuck, MN

Ok, it's time to get back to this blog thinger and finally get caught up. We got very busy buying a house and moving into that house and settling into that house and because of that and other fun grown-up stuff like figuring out insurance policies and retirement accounts, I haven't had much time to post. Like I mentioned in the last post, we now live in Plymouth, MN.

Way back in September we went on a western Minnesota big stuff loop. The first stop on this loop was in Starbuck. We didn't waste our time stopping for the buck with a star in it's antlers (I'm not kidding) or the site marking where the world's largest lefse was made. The lefse isn't there, because they ate it back in 1983, but the rolling pin they used is.

The giant hobo stands in Hobo Park. In the 1930s during the Great Depression many men would ride the freight trains and stop in Starbuck for a few days or weeks looking for work or food from the locals. At night they would gather near this spot along Lake Minnewaska. Before long they would hop on another freight train and move on, like any respectable hobo would. They left behind shorthand signs informing other hobos where they could find work or food or other helpful information.

Big Fish Update

2009-11-04T22:35:00.002-06:00

I just received an update from the Fans of the Big Fish Facebook page that the Big Fish Supper Club is reopening this Friday, November 6th. It will be open 7 days a week from 3 pm to 10 pm. So if you're near Bena, MN then you should stop in.

Just to give everyone an update on the blog... I have been super, super busy lately and have had no time to post. We do have more stuff to post. I think we have 4 more big stuffs that are in the "queue" so to speak. Also, The Big Stuff Project will be moving it's base of operations from Bloomington to Plymouth this month.

Happy Chef

2009-09-11T16:35:00.000-05:00

August 16, 2009 - Mankato, MN

The Happy Chef restaurant in Mankato was the very first Happy Chef. It opened in 1963. At one point the Happy Chef chain grew to 56 restaurants in the Midwest. Today only 16 restaurants remain.

The giant Happy Chef statue was, and still is, an icon for the restaurants. Most of the restaurants had one. But, as I chronicled before, these statues are disappearing. The Mankato restaurant is the only one that still has a statue. Restaurant owners were instructed to destroy the statues rather than sell them, but some managed to survive. Regardless, the Happy Chef statue in any form is a rare commodity.

Jolly Green Giant & Sprout

2009-09-07T19:12:00.000-05:00

August 16, 2009 - Blue Earth, MN

The Jolly Green Giant first appeared in the 1920's as an advertising mascot for the Blue Earth Canning Company. In 1929 the Blue Earth Canning Company became part of Minnesota Valley Canning Company in Le Sueur, MN. In 1950 they changed their name to Green Giant and merged with Pillsbury in 1979. Pillsbury was ultimately acquired by General Mills, who still owns the brand. It seems that at some point possibly six canneries were sold to Seneca Foods.

The Jolly Green Giant statue, which cost the town $43,000, was erected in 1978 in time to overlook the completion of Interstate 90 connecting Boston to Seattle. He was temporarily erected in September 1978 at a roadside rest area north of I-90 where he could watch as the interstate was completed. Miss America was there too. He was permanently put into place a mile south of the interstate on July 6, 1979. This is where he still is today.

The statue is 55 feet tall, weighs 4 tons, has a 4 foot smile and size 78 elfin slippers, and is conveniently located next to a Dairy Queen. On this day he appears ready to run in the Relay For Life... assuming he can somehow free his feet from his platform.

The idea for the statue was that of Paul Hedberg, the owner of a local radio station. He got the idea after interviewing numerous travelers for a radio program where many of them expressed an interest in seeing the Green Giant. In 1977 he contacted the Green Giant Company and with their consent and input on the design was able to have the statue built.

Outside a gas station just off of I-90 and close to the Green Giant stands this statue of Little Green Sprout. Sprout appeared in Green Giant ads beginning in 1973. This Sprout was formerly an A&W Papa Burger, which explains the root beer in his hand. I guess they decided to replace the burger with a pizza box.

Big Buffalo

2009-08-30T21:54:00.003-05:00

August 16, 2009 - Luverne, MN

On our way out of Luverne after our super awesome camping trip we stopped at this sizable buffalo statue. It is located just a couple blocks north of the interstate. The buffalo is a little bit larger than a real buffalo and it says "Those Blasted Things" next to it. If you look closely at the picture you will see that Those Blasted Things is the name of the store behind the buffalo. It also says Minnesota Rocks & Gifts below it... so it's some sort of gift shop. That's all I really know about it.

If you pay attention while in Luverne, you will notice that the buffalo seems to be a bit of a theme. The area around Luverne is prairie and the type of place you would expect to see lots of buffalo... if we hadn't nearly killed all of them. Woops. Oddly, the school mascot is the cardinal.

World's Largest Peace Pipe

2009-08-27T18:03:00.000-05:00

August 15, 2009 - Pipestone, MN

Pipestone... the bane of our Big Stuff existence. You see, we were in Pipestone once before. We went there for a friend's wedding in July 2003. It was about 98 degrees that day and the church lacked air conditioning and it was the full-on Catholic mass wedding ceremony. The country club did have air conditioning, though, and cheap drinks that were also very strong. All-in-all it was a fun day.

The problem was that in 2003 there was no Big Stuff Project. It was only a couple years later that my wife came up with the idea. Why is that such a big deal, you may ask yourself. Well, if you've ever been to Pipestone you know that the city of Pipestone is, in fact, not near anything at all. This is something that is easily illustrated by looking at the Big Stuff map (although I will be adding a point in Luverne, which is 24 miles from Pipestone). We really had no reason at all to go to Pipestone again and we liked it that way. But then there was the peace pipe. We had no idea when or how we were going to get that stupid peace pipe.

That's when the Big Stuff gods kinda, sort of, maybe slightly but not really smiled upon us. My youngest brother got a job in southern Minnesota and ended up moving into an apartment in Luverne. This was great. There is a state park just north of Luverne, so we thought we would pick a weekend where we could go camping and visit my brother. And this is what we did... and it turned out to be a very interesting camping trip.

We left from the Twin Cities Friday (8/14) after work. Due to our late departure and some road construction, we didn't get to the park until about 10:15 that night. We then set up our large tent, just the two of us, in the dark with two lanterns for light. We did a pretty good job. The most interesting thing was trying to partially inflate our air mattresses inside our Nissan Sentra so we wouldn't bother other people as much with our noisy electric pump. As we were getting close to being finally settled in, the people who reserved the site behind us showed up to set up their camp. It was after 11pm by then.

The next morning we woke up and it was raining. This put a damper on our plans for the morning. We sat in the tent and played some cards for a little while and then decided to try to make breakfast. It was still a little rainy and drizzly, but we managed to make eggs, pancakes, and heated up pre-cooked bacon on our camp stove.

Us 1
Nature 0

We then prepared to go hiking like we had planned, albeit later than we had hoped. It was still drizzling a little bit as we started, but that soon stopped. The air was humid but the clouds kept the sun from making it very steamy, which would have sucked, and there was a nice breeze. The weather was actually pretty nice for hiking. The rain did make certain spots on the trails kind of slick, but we weren't about to let nature ruin our enjoyment of nature..... stupid nature. The park was pretty neat (some of my pictures) and the campground was rather nice too.

Us 2
Nature 0

After hiking we ate some lunch and headed to Pipestone for the World's Largest Peace Pipe. On the way there it looked like the weather might just clear up a bit... until we got to Pipestone... where it was raining. We found the pipe and the rain let up a little bit so we snapped a few pictures and, with little to absolutely no fanfare, left Pipestone. We probably weren't really going to enjoy Pipestone anyway, so I think that's another point for us.

Us 3
Nature 0

Next we went and picked up my brother and went back to the campground. We got a fire going and made some pizza pocket sandwich things and apple pies with our pie/sandwich irons and later had some smores. During the evening we were watching the clouds. It looked like some storms were coming so we readied the campsite for a quick getaway if a sudden downpour came. There was some pretty good lightning, but that storm ended up moving north of us. The weather settled down and we had a nice night. Then at about 11:30 we brought my brother back to his apartment and we checked the radar. Wouldn't you know it, a big line of thunderstorms was headed our way. We had a decision to make. Our options were to a) go back and sleep in the tent and hope for the best, b) stay at my brother's apartment and crash there, or c) go back to the campground, tear down, and sleep on my brother's floor. We chose c, since we wanted to keep the inside of our tent dry as well as our sleeping bags, pillows, and mattresses. So now it's midnight and we do a quick tear down of the tent and leave the campground. We then enjoyed some microwaved smores before going to bed. I think nature won that round.

Us 3
Nature 1

We hold on to the lead and claim victory. Take that, nature!

About the Peace Pipe

The peace pipe, or calumet, is 30 feet long and stands outside the old Rock Island Depot near the entrance to the Pipestone National Monument. Native Americans used pipestone to make ceremonial or sacred pipes. Pipestone, or catlinite, is the second softest rock in the world and Native Americans were able to carve it for use as peace pipes. The Pipestone National Monument contains a large quarry of catlinite that is still in use today. Enrolled Native Americans are allowed to extract rock from the quarry and only use hand tools to do it.

Wienermobile Crashes Into House

2009-07-20T12:18:00.002-05:00

The driver of one of the six Wienermobiles crashed into a house in Racine, WI Friday morning. She was apparently trying to turn around in the driveway and thought she had it in reverse when it was still in drive. Nobody was home at the time.

Read the entire story here.

I'm not sure how you can crash that far into a garage when you are trying to back up. How fast do you need to go? She must have really put some mustard on that. I bet she just got grilled by her boss. That's a call I wouldn't relish.

For the record, we saw the Wienermobile earlier this month stuck in traffic on Highway 10 near Hawley, MN.

Big Stuff, Small Children

2009-07-12T21:40:00.002-05:00

I recently went through some of my parents' old photo albums. One in particular was just of family vacations we took. It seems that Big Stuff is just in my blood. I pulled out a handful of photos and scanned them.

These first two are of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox in Bemidji, MN circa 1984 or 1985 I believe. I'm the really little guy in the Babe photo surrounded by siblings and cousins.

This is me on the Jackalope at Wall Drug in Wall, SD in 1988.

These next two photos are from the same South Dakota trip in 1988. These are from Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, SD. I'm the guy in the Vikings shirt (front and center with the Brontosaurus and in the back with the Stegosaurus). Those other people are my siblings... except for that guy in the hat with his back to us in the first picture, I don't know him.

Same trip. My siblings and I in front of Mt. Rushmore and Mt. Rockmore, respectively (I know. I mix them up too.). The first pic also has two random women and the second pic has my dad. I'm the guy in the blue shirt.

I'm not sure what year these last two are from. I'm guessing around 1989 or 1990. The first is in front of the famous Spoonbridge and Cherry at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden (I'm in the middle with the white Valleyfair shirt.) and the second photo is Iggy the Iguana (I'm in the front.) at the Science Museum of Minnesota. The Science Museum has moved since then.

Giant Bronze Bulls

2009-06-07T12:35:00.002-05:00

May 31, 2009 - St. Paul, MN

On the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota you will find these three giant bronze bulls. They are the creation of sculptor Peter Woytuk and sit across the street from Haecker Hall. They were put into place in 2001.

The bulls are rather large. The tallest one is approximately 7 or 8 feet tall and I would guess they are all about 12 feet long. The bulls are also a lot of fun to climb on. I mean... uhhh... that's what I've been told... not that we would climb all over them and take a bunch of pictures of us doing that and have them saved on my computer. We wouldn't do that.

Giant Molecules and a Tin Man

2009-06-03T12:26:00.000-05:00

May 31, 2009 - Minneapolis, MN

We both had been itching to get out and see some more Big Stuff and this Sunday turned out to be a great day for it. We headed out to the University of Minnesota to find our latest additions to our collection.

The East Bank of the Minneapolis campus has two such Big Stuff sculptures. The first is a new addition to the university. Located on Washington Avenue in front of the Molecular & Cellular Biology building is a 30 foot tall, 10,000 pound molecule sculpture. It was created by artist Amy Toscani and installed in the fall of 2008. It's not a real molecule, but rather an artistic one based on science. There's some more info and quotes from the artist here.

The other sculpture is a large tin man looking thing by the Mechanical Engineering building and is only a couple hundred yards north of the molecules. It is apparently called Platonic Figure and was made in 2001 by Andrew Leicester. It's made out of steel with limestone bases. You can send it as an E-postcard!

Bena's Big Fish Endangered

2009-05-15T10:23:00.002-05:00

Photo by jenniferrt66.

The Preservation Alliance of Minnesota added Bena's Big Fish, along with 9 other places, to its list of Most Endangered Historic Places last week. The fish was built in 1958 as a stand selling hamburgers and ice cream. Now it is used as a storage shed for the Big Fish Supper Club. The fish is endangered due to its deteriorating condition.

Story.

The Big Fish has received some national attention. Charles Kuralt once called it his favorite building in America. It has even made it to the big screen.

Award Winning Photography

2009-04-12T15:14:00.003-05:00

Names have been blurred to protect the innocent.

My wife recently received an award from an organization she is involved with at school. Pretty good, huh? They actually give silly awards to all of the graduating 4th year students.

World Record Largest Rocking Chair

2009-03-10T21:24:00.000-05:00

I received an email yesterday morning that contained a photo and press release. The press release was about The Guiness Book of World Records official designation that the rocking chair near Cuba, MO along Route 66 is indeed the World's Largest. This chair is 42' 1" tall, 20' 3" wide, and estimated to weigh about 27,500 pounds. In order to be the world's largest rocking chair, Guiness did require that the chair actually rock, so the welds that held the chair in place were cut and they got that chair a rockin'. It was then re-welded into place.

The chair was built by Dan and Carolyn Sanazaro and placed next to The Fanning Outpost General Store in an effort to draw customers to their complex of businesses. It was designed by artist and friend John Bland and fabricated by welder and friend Joe Medwick. It was lifted into place on April 1, 2008.

For more info, read the press release.

Thanks to Jane for the tip.

Popcorn Capital Reclaims Popcorn Ball Record

2009-03-06T12:54:00.002-06:00

The town of Sac City, Iowa has set the record for the world's largest popcorn ball... again. Sac County is the self-proclaimed "Popcorn Capital of the World". Each year it produces approximately 4.8 million pounds of popcorn. And, since you can't hardly be the capital of something without having a giant thing to acknowledge that (see: The Corn Capital), Sac City built the world's largest popcorn ball back in 1995. That original record ball weighed 2,225 pounds. It was later topped by the Iowa Boy Scouts, so Sac City blew up the original ball at the Iowa State Fair and built a new record setter in 2004 weighing 3,100 pounds. In the competitive world of giant popcorn balls, you just knew that wasn't going to last. A popcorn company in Illinois bested Sac City's 2004 effort with a ball weighing just over 3,400 pounds. Well that just made Sac City angry... and you wouldn't like them when they're angry.

On February 28th, Noble Popcorn, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, built a new popcorn ball weighing 5,060 pounds. That's approximately 48% larger. It is 7.5 feet tall and 29 feet around. Later it will be kept in the display barn that the 3,100 pound ball currently is, then, if it doesn't fall apart, the old popcorn ball will go on a tour around the state.

For more:
Des Moines Register, which has video and a photo gallery.
Roadside America

Big Stuff Postcards

2009-02-19T19:11:00.002-06:00

Check out these postcards of Minnesota Big Stuff at Postcardy.com. They have quite a few of them and they're all pretty cool.

Soundtrack Update

2009-02-18T18:05:00.000-06:00

It's time to add some more songs to this thing.

The Giant of Illinois - by Andrew Bird

This song is part of a compilation album released just this week titled Dark Was The Night. The compilation is a benefit for the Red Hot Organization – "an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture." The album was produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National.

You can listen to The Giant of Illinois, plus a couple other songs I like from the album, just because I can, on this customizable (cool) widget.

Uff Dah Minnesota - by Roy Holdren

This is one my mom sent me. It's a silly country parody. I found it online here.

Roy Holdren's website

The soundtrack listing to date:
The playlist so far:
Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota - Weird Al Yankovic
Stevie Nix - The Hold Steady
Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight (or Heavy D & the Boyz)
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
An Ear For Baby - The Thermals
Minneapolis - That Dog
Minnesota - The Push Stars
Minnesota - The Mountain Goats
Say Shh... - Atmosphere
We Got as Far as Minnesota - Kind of Like Spitting
Minnesota Moon - The Big Wu
Minnesota - Northern Light
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - Radiohead
Big Fish - 3 Minute Hero
Spin The Globe - Reel Big Fish
Please Come Back - Catfish Haven
Fishing For a Dream - Turin Brakes
Big Chair - Travis
Tallest Building in Hell - by Jared Mees & the Grown Children
The World at Large - by Modest Mouse
The Giant of Illinois - by Andrew Bird
Uff Dah Minnesota - by Roy Holdren

International Spotlight: World's Largest Axe

2009-02-16T17:14:00.000-06:00

Nackawic, New Brunswick, Canada

Photo by blamstur.

We head back to Canada for another International Spotlight. The town of Nackawic, New Brunswick received the title of Forestry Capital of Canada in 1991. The giant axe was built to honor that and, as the bronze plaque reads, it "symbolizes the importance of the forest industry, past, present and future, to the Town of Nackawic and the Province of New Brunswick."

From what I can gather, it seems to be about 60 feet tall (I've also seen it listed at 49 feet and 66 feet.), is 23 feet wide, and weighs about 7 tons. Also, there may or may not be a time capsule in the axe head.

Town of Nackawic.

Portland's Bunyan Added to National Register of Historic Places

2009-02-12T12:14:00.000-06:00

Photo by Rozanne.

Portland, Oregon's famous Paul Bunyan statue has been added to the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as a "well-crafted example of roadside architecture." The statue was unveiled in 1959 to celebrated Oregon's 100th birthday as part of the Oregon Centennial Exposition. He stands 31 feet tall. Coincidentally, he will be celebrating his 50th birthday this Valentine's Day.

Portland's Bunyan is not the first Paul Bunyan on the National Register, however. That honor would go to Bemidji, Minnesota's Paul and Babe, which were built in 1937.

Find out more from The Oregonian.
Read the Bemidji Pioneer's response to the "puny" crack.

Thanks to my wife's friend Becky for the scoop.

On Assignment: Snowzilla - Anchorage, Alaska

2009-02-10T12:16:00.003-06:00

When my sister-in-law went on a post Christmas trip to Anchorage, we asked her if she could take some pictures of Snowzilla. She was kind enough to oblige.

Snowzilla is a creation of Billy Powers and his kids. It made it's original appearance in December of 2005 and measured roughly 16 feet tall. A 16 foot tall snowman requires quite a bit of snow, so they used buckets and sleds to collect snow from their neighbors' yards. Snowzilla was resurrected in 2006, they were unable to do it again in 2007 due to a lack of snow, but they were at it again this winter. This year, however, the city tried to put a stop to that. Tried, but failed.

The city decided that Snowzilla was a public nuisance due to the increased noise and traffic surrounding it and because of safety concerns for onlookers from that traffic and, apparently, the threat of a structually unsound Snowzilla toppling over and crushing small children... I guess. They also claim that not all of Powers' neighbors are so thrilled to have the giant snowman around.

Two weeks before Christmas, while Snowzilla still did not even have a completed torso, the city placed cease-and-desist orders at the base of Snowzilla and at Powers' door. This put a halt to the construction of Snowzilla and left a giant mound of snow.

In some kind of Christmas miracle, Snowzilla reappeared before dawn on December 23rd. Someone rebuilt the snowman, seemingly in the night. This time, he rose to about 25 feet. This year's version is not as shapely and well-proportioned as previous incarnations because of the speed of the build. It delighted the children nonetheless.

For more information or pictures of Snowzilla, just Google it. There will be plenty.

New Map! - Missouri

2009-01-29T12:15:00.000-06:00

Photo by willsdad

Missouri lays claim to the World's Largest Pecan, Rocking Chair, Fork, Goose, and Ball of String as well as a number of giant pink elephants. My favorite Missouri Big Stuffs are the World's Largest Shuttlecocks, one of which is pictured above. There are four of them that are scattered on the grounds of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. They were created by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, the same people who brought us the Spoonbridge and Cherry at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. See the map.

If your favorite Missouri attraction is missing, please let me know.

Babe's Completed Makeover

2009-01-12T11:59:00.000-06:00

A little while back I posted about renovations being done to Brainerd's Babe the Blue Ox. Recently, Josh Porter of Avalon Studios uploaded a bunch of photos of his work to Flickr. He has a set dedicated to the Babe makeover, which includes the above before and after. It even has a shot from inside Babe. He did some excellent work and this should help keep Babe around for another 50 years... hopefully.

And, just because I didn't post enough links, here's another link.
Slideshow of Babe makeover

2008 - Year In Review

2008-12-31T16:37:00.002-06:00

2008 is at an end. It was another good year in Big Stuff, highlighted by our Brainerd trip, the Vining Sculpture Park, and another truly weird backstory that could challenge Big Louie for the Oddest Big Stuff Story crown. Here is a brief recap of all of the Big Stuff we saw in 2008.

March 19th - A-Z Happy Chef, Princeton, MN
March 19th - Giant Walleye, Isle, MN
March 19th - Big Mean Fish, Isle, MN
March 19th - Walleye Capital of the World?, Garrison, MN
March 19th - Robin Hood, Garrison, MN
March 19th - Leaping Deer, Deerwood, MN
March 19th - Sea Serpent, Crosby, MN
March 19th - Babe the Blue Ox, Brainerd, MN
March 19th - Paul & Babe Bowling, Baxter, MN
March 20th - World's Largest Art Tractor, New York Mills, MN

June 29th - Small Pelicans in a Big Pelican Town, Pelican Rapids, MN
June 29th - Vining Sculpture Park, Vining, MN
June 29th - Our Lady of the Hills, Urbank, MN
June 29th - World's Largest Dragonfly, Ottertail, MN
June 29th - Giant Metal Otter, Ottertail, MN
July 26th - Beach Dude, Hampton, MN
August 2nd - World's Largest Dala Horse, Mora, MN
August 2nd - Pine City Voyageur, Pine City, MN
August 16th - St. Urho, Menahga, MN
August 16th - Giant Ice Cream Cone, Wadena, MN
October 4th - Iggy the Iguana, St. Paul, MN
October 11th - Giant Green Adirondack Chair II, Minneapolis, MN
October 11th - Giant Mermaid, Mounds View, MN

a little late, but... Happy Holidays!

2008-12-30T16:15:00.000-06:00

"Old Three Legs" Gets Makeover

2008-12-08T12:01:00.005-06:00

So this isn't exactly Big Stuff, but it's a neat bit of history from my home county and the following report from Roadside America does a decent job of tying it into Big Stuff.

Makeover For Minnesota's Killer Wolf
December 8, 2008

For years a lone wolf nicknamed “Old Three Legs” worried the citizens of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. He ate chickens, mostly, but some believed that he was a potential child-chewer, and his knack of not getting shot made him more fearsome. “Hunting parties of hundreds could not bring him down,” reads a lurid report on WDAY-TV, “his reign of terror still unmatched.”

(It’s no surprise that Old Three Legs hung around Detroit Lakes, if the nearby World’s Largest Turkey, Pelican, and Booming Prairie Chicken symbolize the local food supply.) continue reading....

Other articles:
WDAY
DL-Online

International Spotlight: Pineapples

2008-11-18T16:43:00.001-06:00

Photo by BelizeSquare

This giant pineapple is 16 meters tall and is located at The Big Pineapple, which is a tourist attraction and working farm near Nambour, Queensland, Australia. They have tours, rides, shops, restaurants, and exhibits. I believe you can go inside the pineapple and get a view from the top. There is some history behind the attraction on Wikipedia.

There is another giant pineapple not too far away in Gympie at a vacant gas station. It looks to rival The Big Pineapple in size. I don't know the size of this one, though.

The Gympie pineapple circa 2005. Photo by drewish.

Bathurst, South Africa claims to have the "biggest Pineapple in the World!" This one measures 16.7 meters high and has 3 floors, complete with a gift shop, and an observation deck.

Bathurst pineapple. Photo by philrickerby.

This awesome building exists somewhere in Thailand between Cha-am and Phuket. That's all I've been able to find out.

Photo by Master Matt

Lastly, but not leastly, here is a less huge pineapple in the Philippines.

New World Record for Largest Pinata

2008-11-10T12:26:00.000-06:00

A new Guinness World Record was set yesterday (or possibly a week before) in Philadelphia for the World's Largest Pinata. The pinata measured in at 28.5 meters (94′) long, 7.2 meters (24′) wide and 18 (60′) meters tall and was filled with 8,000 pounds of candy. This was all done for a Carnival Cruise commercial. Organizers had originally planned to break open the pinata in a public event, but became concerned over safety when 15,000 people showed up. They cancelled the event and broke (broke isn't really the right word) open the pinata secretly using about 300 extras for the commercial shoot. All the candy will be donated to a number of charities.

Most of it is explained on John Heald's blog, which includes the video below.

New World Record for Largest Pair of Jeans

2008-11-03T16:54:00.001-06:00

Seamstresses in Peru set out to set a Guinness World Record for the largest pair of jeans sewn. (link) The pair of jeans measures 141 feet tall and 98 feet wide and weighs in at 7.5 tons. The current record is held by the city of Medellin in Columbia. That pair was 114 feet tall and 82 feet wide.

It sounds like they are just waiting for their record setting jeans to be accepted by Guinness. There wasn't a Guinness representative present, but a notary who can send documentation to the group was.

The pants will be recycled as backpacks for school children.

The Soundtrack

2008-10-29T16:36:00.000-05:00

The World at Large - by Modest Mouse

The World at Large comes off of Modest Mouse's breakthrough album "Good News for People Who Love Bad News". It's included in my Big Stuff Soundtrack listing for obvious reasons; 1)the word "large" in the title and 2)I like Modest Mouse. You can hear the song on their MySpace page if you know how to use the new fancy music player with the playlists and such. You can also listen to it once for free on LaLa. Or you can watch it performed live on what appears to be Austin City Limits below.

You can see the other songs on the soundtrack by clicking the little soundtrack label at the bottom or way over on the left.

Giant Mermaid

2008-10-20T20:01:00.002-05:00

October 11, 2008 - Mounds View, MN

After seeing the adirondack chairs in Minneapolis, we ran up to Mounds View to see the mermaid. The mermaid was built in 1967 out of fiberglass by Robert Johnson as an advertisement for the Mermaid Supper Club. The place is now known as The Mermaid Entertainment and Event Center. The event center has a sports bar, bowling alley, convention center, hosts wedding receptions, and is connected to an AmericInn Hotel. The mermaid stands 30 feet tall and is on top of the building.

As my wife says, "I don't think you'd get away with a half-naked chick on a building these days." She really puts the "mounds" in Mounds View.

Another Giant Adirondack Chair

2008-10-14T20:09:00.004-05:00

October 11, 2008 - Minneapolis, MN

After a beautiful morning at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (see), we went hunting for more Big Stuff. We headed to the Lake Pointe Corporate Center near Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis for the other giant green adirondack chair in the Twin Cities. Almost exactly 1 year ago we went to the giant chair in St. Paul. These two chairs are exactly the same and were built to promote the Green Chair Project, which you can read about in that post from a year ago. This one actually has a plaque next to it that reads, "We learn by doing."

I don't know if this one had to be replaced like the one in St. Paul was or if it is the original from 1995. This one, though, has a couple buddies. They aren't as big, but there should be one that meets your green adirondack chair needs.

I mentioned in that post from a year ago that there is also a giant green adirondack chair in Washington D.C (pictured below). It's a slightly different style, but it looks just as big. It's located on the lawn of the Duke Ellington School for the Arts.

Photo by lucindalunacy.

Tip: Holy lady beetles, Batman! That place was just swarming with them. We both smelled like lady beetles until we were able to get to Dairy Queen and wash our hands (which didn't totally get rid of the smell)... and eat ice cream of course.

Iggy the Iguana

2008-10-06T12:25:00.002-05:00

October 4th, 2008 - St. Paul, MN

Iggy was created by Nicholas Swearer. He began work on the iguana, which he modeled after his pet iguana named Spot, in 1971 at the age of 15. It took him 4 years to complete. The completed sculpture is 40 feet long, weighs 3,900 pounds, and was built using 12,500 railroad spikes.

When Swearer left home for college, that's right, he built a giant iguana sculpture out of railroad spikes BEFORE he went to college, his parents sold the sculpture for $10,000. It was later donated to the Science Museum of Minnesota in 1978.

He stood in front of the Science Museum entrance until 1999 when the museum moved to a new location. Iggy, meanwhile, traveled the Twin Cities, was cleaned and restored, and settled at the new Science Museum. He now stands by the bus drop off on the back side of the museum. Strategically placed for all the field trip kids to see, I'm sure.

Iggy at StartSeeingArt.com

The Soundtrack: Tallest Building in Hell

2008-09-24T12:28:00.002-05:00

I think it's about time I added another song to the Big Stuff soundtrack.

Tallest Building in Hell - by Jared Mees & the Grown Children

I've never been to hell, but I would imagine that the tallest building there would be rather big. Right? I mean, they do have cheap labor for all eternity down there, so that's not an obstacle.

Regardless, the song's pretty good and with the use of a superlative like tallest, it's good enough to make this list.

The song is currently up on their myspace page.

You can see the other songs on the soundtrack by clicking the little soundtrack label at the bottom or way over on the left.

International Spotlight: World's Largest Dinosaur

2008-09-15T12:19:00.003-05:00

Drumheller, Alberta, Canada

Photo by Tall Meds

This T-Rex is billed as the World's Largest Dinosaur, and it's an easy claim to believe. She stands 86 feet tall, is 151 feet long, and weighs 145,000 pounds. There is a viewing platform in the mouth of the giant T-Rex and costs $3 CDN admission. On the way up there are murals and fossil displays.

Drumheller is about a 90 minute drive northeast of Calgary. Drumheller also proclaims itself the Dinosaur Capital of the World and the Heart of the Canadian Badlands.

Here is some YouTube video of the World's Largest dinosaur.

more info

Fallen Heroes: Spindle

2008-09-02T12:19:00.000-05:00

Photo by paul goyette.

This Berwyn, Illinois landmark is no more. Spindle was a 50-foot spike with 8 cars impaled on it. It was built in 1989 by artist Dustin Shuler. It was located in the parking lot of Cermak Plaza in Berwyn. Spindle was featured in the movie Wayne's World in 1992. Plans were being made to remove the sculpture for more development at the shopping center, specifically a new Walgreens. The costs to move it would have been very high for the city, especially if the cars were in rough shape. In an effort to save Spindle, the sculpture was put up for auction on eBay. That auction ended with no bids.

Photo by BantikFamily.

On May 2, 2008, Spindle was disassembled. The top two cars were saved and, supposedly, if sufficient funds were raised, a new Spindle could be built using those two original cars.

More info.

Giant Ice Cream Cone

2008-08-22T12:20:00.000-05:00

August 16th, 2008 - Wadena, MN

From Menahga we headed south on Highway 71 through Wadena and found the ice cream cone. We had tried to find it once before, but with no luck. We had kind of given up on it after it appeared that it had been disregarded and rundown. But, the folks at World's Largest Things spotted it on a recent trip. It has been fixed up and it looks really good.

The cone stands 14-feet tall and is made out of concrete. It is believed to have been originally built in 1973. It now stands at a private residence on the east side of Highway 71 south of Wadena, it's actually probably closer to Hewitt. It's located close to the big wind turbine, if you need a landmark. The residence also has a number of small windmills and other yard ornaments and sculptures. It seems that they sell windmills as well.

Since it was a private residence, we just pulled off the road quick, snapped a couple pictures, and bolted. Ok, we didn't bolt, but we did leave shortly in a timely manner.

After our success, we headed back into Wadena and ate at the Pizza Ranch. It was tasty. I hadn't had Pizza Ranch since college.

St. Urho

2008-08-19T18:08:00.005-05:00

August 16th, 2008 - Menahga, MN

This one is kind of strange and, for this blog, that's really saying something.

The legend of St. Urho goes that a long time ago in Finland the grape crop was being destroyed by grasshoppers. Urho drove away the grasshoppers using his booming voice by chanting "Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, mene täältä hiiteen!", which translates to "Grasshopper, grasshopper, go from hence to Hell!"

St. Urho's day is celebrated on March 16th by wearing royal purple and Nile green, drinking beer (even green and purple beer) and wine, and feasting on mojakka, which is basically just soup. The plaque below this St. Urho statue even describes a celebration where Finnish women and children gather around the shores of the many lakes in Finland and chant what St. Urho chanted. All the while, the men dress in green costumes and gather on the hills overlooking the lakes and, basically, act like grasshoppers and slowly disappear to change into purple costumes. Then the polka and drinking begins.

Now this is where it gets weird.

"What", you say, "that wasn't weird already?"

The legend of St. Urho can be traced as far back as the 1950's to a region known as Northern Minnesota. It seems most of those familiar with the legend credit Richard Mattson of Virginia, MN as the creator. It was in 1953 while working at Ketola's department store in Virginia when Mattson first spun his tale. He was being teased by his Irish co-workers that the Finns didn't have any great saints like St. Patrick, so Mattson made up a story about a St. Urho. The women of the store threw a party in the coffee room and Gene McCavic wrote a poem for St. Urho. And thus the legend began.

In 1956, the media got a hold of it. The local paper, the Mesabi Daily News, wrote about it and in the years since St. Urho has been featured in newspapers around the country.

The legend and holiday we know today is a little different than Richard Mattson originally told it. First of all, the celebration was originally supposed to be in May, but Finns wanted to move it to rival St. Patrick's day and get a head start on the green beer (no doubt the next day they will suddenly be Irish like most of the country). More notably, Mattson's original tale told of how Urho used his powerful voice, which he obtained by drinking "feelia sour" (sour whole milk) and "kala mojakka" (fish soup), to cast out poisonous frogs from Finland. Somehow Dr. Sulo Havumäki, a psychology professor at Bemidji State College (now Bemidji State University) had influence over the legend and the story changed to grasshoppers. Some even credit Havumäki as the creator of the legend. His name is on the plaque below the St. Urho statue.

Richard Mattson passed away in 2001, but his legend of St. Urho lives on. St. Urho's Day is celebrated in a number of Minnesota towns, including Finland, MN (they have an Urho sculpture too), and in Finnish towns across the country, like Butte, MT and Hood River, OR and several others. The legend has even spread into Canada and reached all the way back to Finland, where you can find more than one St. Urho's Pub.

In 1975, the city of Menahga commissioned a Minneapolis sculptor to carve a statue of Urho out of a 1-ton block of oak, but they got swindled. Dude must have been a contractor. In 1982, a traveling chainsaw sculptor named Jerry Ward took the block and created a 12-foot tall sculpture of St. Urho holding a pitch fork with a giant grasshopper speared on the end of it. That carving took a beating from the weather and termites and was replaced by the current fiberglass recreation. The old wood carved statue was moved to a mausoleum in a local cemetery.

For more info:
SaintUrho.com
St. Urho on Wikipedia
Roadside America

Bunyan News

2008-08-13T12:24:00.000-05:00

Brainerd's Babe the Blue Ox, at Paul Bunyan Land, is currently undergoing major renovations. The work began on July 21st and is supposed to be completed within 1 month. Josh Porter of Avalon Studios is the artist in charge of the renovation work.

It's sounds to me like Babe is going through a bit of a mid-life crisis. He hits his 50's and then starts getting major work done. And I thought he had been aging rather gracefully.

This picture was taken August 3rd.

There's a new Paul in town. This summer a new Paul Bunyan statue was put in place in the Pequot Lakes - Jenkins area. He stands 12'8" tall and was created by Josh Porter. He is located near the intersection of Highway 371 and County Road 16 by the A-Pine Restaurant.

For more information, go here. You can learn about the process for creating Paul here, it includes pictures.

Pine City Voyageur

2008-08-07T12:05:00.000-05:00

August 2nd, 2008 - Pine City, MN

From Mora we headed to Pine City. In Pine City's Riverside Park, on the banks of the Snake River, stands this 35-foot tall voyageur. According to a Roadside America tipster, "...the Voyageur is dedicated to the history of the early settlers of the Pine County area. It marks the city's beginnings as a trading post for the French Voyageurs and Indians."

This voyageur is a chainsaw carving and was carved from a massive redwood tree, rather than pine.....go figure, by Dennis Roghair. Some other towns probably would have had a giant cityscape carved out of pine instead to celebrate Pine City, but not this one. They went in a completely different direction and used redwood.

It's rather impressive in person. The sheer size of this is hard to convey with a photograph and the details are incredible. Look at the fingers. Here is a much larger version of that last photo. You can really see the details in that one.

World's Largest Dala Horse

2008-08-05T12:15:00.000-05:00

August 2nd, 2008 - Mora, MN

Well, it may not actually be the World's Largest Dala Horse, but I'll get to that later.

This weekend we had a family party thing with my wife's family at a cabin in the woods near Hinckley. We arrived there Friday evening and set up camp. We were tenting it for the weekend. The party wasn't until Saturday, so we figured we had some time Saturday morning to go and see 2 or 3 Big Stuffs in the area before too many people start showing up. That morning we headed out to Mora.

The Dala horse, or Dalecarlian horse or Dalahäst, is a traditional wooden statuette and toy. It is a symbol of Sweden and, more prominently, a symbol of the Dalarna region of Sweden where it is said to have originated. There is a legend that the Dala horse became the national toy in 1716 after Swedish solders fighting under King Charles XII were forced to seek quarters in homes in the Dalarna region and carved the wooden horses as gifts for their hosts.

Mora, Sweden is at the center of the Dalarna Province and the center of the Dala horse craft. Mora, Minnesota is the sister city of Mora, Sweden. In 1971, the Mora (Minnesota) Jaycees built this giant Dala horse. The plaque below the horse reads:

This is a replica of the Dalecarlian horse, hand carved in Mora, Sweden since the 1840's. It was built by the Mora Jaycees in 1971 and presented to this community as a reminder of their cultural heritage and as a tourist attraction.

This Dala horse is made from fiberglass and stands 22-feet tall, 17-feet long, and 6-feet wide and weighs about 3000 pounds. There is another Dala horse in Minot, ND that appears to be similar in size. I don't have dimensions for that one. There is a Dala horse in Avesta, Sweden that, from what information I've been able to gleam from the internet, is about 13 meters tall, which would be 42.6 feet. That would dwarf the Mora horse. It seems the moniker of "World's Largest" can be a hard thing to shed or say goodbye to, whatever the case may be, once you've been surpassed.

Beach Dude

2008-07-27T17:05:00.004-05:00

July 26th, 2008 - Hampton, MN

Just north of Hampton on Highway 50 (aka Hampton Blvd) you will find this 26-foot tall man in nothing but bermuda shorts, apparently lending a hand on a rock delivery at Tom Eilen and Sons Trucking. The Beach Dude is a creation of FAST Corp and this is not the only one in existence. There are a few others around, but only a few. I do not know the history behind this one. All I know is that it's just a little bizarre, which is why it's fantastic.

He has a Viking friend too. If you look closely, you can see him in the background of the picture above. He is 11-feet tall and is also a creation of FAST. Both of these guys, a couple old trucks, and a small gorilla are all part of a landscaping display at the trucking business.

Tip: If you are wondering what type of crushed rock goes best with your very own 26-foot tall half naked fiberglass man, then this is the place for you.

Soundtrack: Big Chair

2008-07-25T17:02:00.002-05:00

It's time to add another song to the growing Big Stuff Soundtrack. The newest addition is "Big Chair" by Travis (it's a band, not just 1 guy). It makes perfect sense for the soundtrack, plus we've already been to a big chair.

Here is a YouTube video of the song. Well it's not so much a video as it is the lyrics of the song as the song plays.

The song is also currently up at their MySpace page.

The playlist so far:
Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota - Weird Al Yankovic
Stevie Nix - The Hold Steady
Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight (or Heavy D & the Boyz)
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
An Ear For Baby - The Thermals
Minneapolis - That Dog
Minnesota - The Push Stars
Minnesota - The Mountain Goats
Say Shh... - Atmosphere
We Got as Far as Minnesota - Kind of Like Spitting
Minnesota Moon - The Big Wu
Minnesota - Northern Light
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - Radiohead
Big Fish - 3 Minute Hero
Spin The Globe - Reel Big Fish
Please Come Back - Catfish Haven
Fishing For a Dream - Turin Brakes
Big Chair - Travis

Big Update

2008-07-24T12:33:00.000-05:00

The Wadena Ice Cream Cone is alive and well. It's at a new location and had some work done to it and it looks fantastic. The cone is located south of Wadena on Hwy 71, somewhere between Wadena and Hewitt. Thanks to World's Largest Things (more links on the left) for spotting it and sharing.

Picture by worldslargestthings

Also, I've added a giant hobo to the map. The hobo is at Hobo Park in Starbuck. It's a campground on Lake Minnewaska and next to the marina. Starbuck is also home to the World's Largest Lefse. Unfortunately, you cannot see the lefse...because they ate it, but there is a commemorative photo hanging at the old depot in Starbuck and some of the utensils used, included the giant roller.

Giant Metal Otter

2008-07-19T15:26:00.004-05:00

June 29th, 2008 - Ottertail, MN

Ottertail is not only the home of the World's Largest Dragonfly, it is also home to a giant metal otter, which makes sense. It's kind of like why Pelican Rapids has pelicans all over the place and the World's Largest Pelican, or like Deerwood having a giant deer. This otter is very large, however, it is not the World's Largest Otter. That belongs to nearby Fergus Falls. I hope Ottertail doesn't have a case of otter envy.

This otter is very unique. It is another art piece by the scrap metal artist Ken Nyberg. We have seen Nyberg's work earlier in New York Mills and earlier on this trip in Vining.

The otter grasps a fish beneath it's right, front foot.

The otter is easy to find. Just turn onto 108 from 78 and it will be on the north side of the road.

World's Largest Dragonfly

2008-07-15T16:44:00.001-05:00

June 29th, 2008 - Ottertail, MN

After tracking down Our Lady Of The Hills, we headed north to the town of Ottertail. Ottertail is a small town of about 450 people on Otter Tail Lake in Otter Tail Township in Otter Tail County. Ottertail is where the World's Largest Dragonfly calls home. This is why the World's Largest Mosquito is not in Ottertail, but rather 180 miles away in Effie.

The Dragonfly sits at a plant store right along highway 78 and lends a hand (or a wing or 4) by holding some hanging plants. The Dragonfly was built on a frame with wheels and a hitch, making it very portable. It has been known to moonlight as a parade float.

Tip: Befriend the Dragonfly, it may help protect you from the mosquitoes, which would be good because you may mistake the mosquitoes for small birds.

Our Lady Of The Hills

2008-07-10T12:15:00.001-05:00

June 29th, 2008 - Urbank, MN

While we were in Vining, we saw this sign with all of the roadside sculptures on the Otter Tail Scenic Byway. We were looking at the sign and basically going, "Got it. Got it. Going to get it. Got it. What?" We had never heard of Our Lady Of The Hills. We were very excited, naturally. Then we had to figure out if we should get it now or some other time. The plan had been to go from Vining north to Ottertail. Our Lady was, what we figured, about 12 miles south and was possible to get on a slight side trip off of I-94 someday. We ultimately decided to just go and see it now and wound up back tracking a bit later to get to Ottertail.

Our Lady Of The Hills stands 22 feet tall. The plaque on the base reads:

OUR LADY OF THE HILLS

DEDICATED ON MAY 13, 1993 ON THE 75TH
ANNIVERSARY OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA

DONATED BY WILLIAM AND VIOLA DANELKE
FOR PROMISES KEPT IN THE
HEALING OF CANCER

I don't know exactly what that means. Did somebody promise a giant statue to someone if they healed somebody's cancer? Seems a bit odd.

Our Lady Of The Hills is located (out in the middle of nowhere) about a mile from Inspiration Peak, the highest point of the Leaf Mountains and the Alexandria Moraine. Minnesota native Sinclair Lewis once said of Inspiration Peak, "there's to be seen a glorious 20-mile circle of some 50 lakes scattered among fields and pastures, like sequins fallen on an old paisley shawl."

We pulled up to the trail head for Inspiration Peak, but we were unsure what the hike was like and were not prepared for much of a hike at all, so we passed on it.

Tip: I don't recommend trying to visit Our Lady Of The Hills in the winter. It's located on a gravel road in the middle of the country, the entire area is hilly, the roads are curvy, the winter weather there can get real nasty, and I don't know if Lady Of The Hills Road gets plowed much. Unless, of course, you are travelling by snowmobile, then I think I do recommend it.

Lady Of The Hills Road taken from below the statue, facing east.

Vining Sculpture Park

2008-07-07T12:23:00.003-05:00

June 29th, 2008 - Vining, MN

After checking out all the pelicans, we headed out for some Big Stuff hunting. Our first target was Vining, home of artist Ken Nyberg. Nyberg creates incredible sculptures by shaping and welding pieces of scrap metal. We have seen a Nyberg piece before. He did the giant art tractor in New York Mills. Nyberg has created many sculptures for his hometown of Vining, so many that there is a park in his name, Nyberg Park. Not all of Nyberg's Vining pieces are in the park. There are a few that are scattered around this small town. Some of his sculptures are Big Stuff, some are actual size stuff, and some are both.

The Foot might be the most famous piece. It sits on the west side of town (which is very close to the east side of town). The Foot was sculpted in 10 gauge steel and was donated to the town in 1991. It took Nyberg 2 years to complete.

This elephant is really cool. It's big and actual size. It's different from his other work in that this elephant is made entirely out of lawnmower blades.

The non-Big Stuff items around Vining are a little green alien, a buck, which is kind of big, a blacksmith (Could it be a self portrait?), a speared fish, an Indian on horseback, a cowboy (not pictured), and a tribute to his daughter.

Ken Nyberg's daughter is Karen Nyberg, who is a NASA Astronaut. She has been to the International Space Station on two separate occasions.

Tip: I actually think we may have missed a couple sculptures. I think there may be a plug and cord thing and a door knob.

The Pelicans of Pelican Rapids

2008-06-30T17:42:00.005-05:00

If you've been to Pelican Rapids, MN lately, you surely would have seen many plastic pelicans about 4 feet tall scattered around the town. It's some sort of community art project, much like The Oxtrot in the Brainerd Lakes area or the dinosaurs in the Twin Cities.

We went to Pelican Rapids yesterday to photograph all of these pelicans. You can see all of them here. These aren't really Big Stuff, but they are certainly kitschy. Pelican Rapids is, of course, the home of the World's Largest Pelican.

Because I don't have anything better to post

2008-06-20T12:49:00.002-05:00

I'm not intentionally neglecting the blog. I just haven't had much spare time to compose the high quality posts you have grown accustomed to. We have not visited any more Big Stuff, but as soon as we do I will find time to post them. I did, however, pass through the town of Bongards on my way home on Father's Day. Bongards is the home of a cheese maker and a giant cow. We have been to see the cow before, but I knew he had gotten a fresh coat of paint since we were there and I stopped to take a couple glamour shots.

The reflection in the window of the cheese store.

This one is my favorite.

Minnesota Map Update...and more

2008-06-11T16:33:00.002-05:00

I added three new attractions to the Minnesota Big Stuff Project map thanks to a tip from fellow Flickrite, anglerove. He stopped at these attractions on a recent fishing trip to Baudette. The new additions are:

Bald Eagle - Remer, MN
Muskie - Deer River, MN
Giant Canada Goose - Squaw Lake, MN

I also added an attraction to the Iowa map. Thanks to advcomp2019 who informed me about it in the comments for my post on the Princeton Happy Chef. There is a head of a Happy Chef on a hill somewhere near Turin, IA

I am going to take this opportunity to add a song by Turin Brakes (I know, if it were Breaks then it would be perfect) to the soundtrack. I didn't know which song to pick, so I am going with Fishing For A Dream, partly because I can post a video and partly because of the whole fish thing.

The playlist so far:
Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota - Weird Al Yankovic
Stevie Nix - The Hold Steady
Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight (or Heavy D & the Boyz)
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
An Ear For Baby - The Thermals
Minneapolis - That Dog
Minnesota - The Push Stars
Minnesota - The Mountain Goats
Say Shh... - Atmosphere
We Got as Far as Minnesota - Kind of Like Spitting
Minnesota Moon - The Big Wu
Minnesota - Northern Light
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - Radiohead
Big Fish - 3 Minute Hero
Spin The Globe - Reel Big Fish
Please Come Back - Catfish Haven
Fishing For a Dream - Turin Brakes

There are links to all the maps on the left.

Midwestern Tornado Destroys 4 World's Largest Objects

2008-05-29T12:36:00.000-05:00

From America's Finest News Source, The Onion

Midwestern Tornado Destroys 4 World's Largest Objects

SAC CITY, IA—A category F4 tornado ravaged large sections of Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin Sunday, killing 15 people and irreparably damaging four of the world's largest novelty objects, including a prized 150-foot fiberglass muskie and a two-ton bail of hay in Minnesota. "It's horrifying, there are three-foot wide pieces of popcorn ball everywhere," said Midwesterner Emily Roberts, whose garage was leveled when powerful winds dropped Sac City, IA's record-breaking confection onto its roof. "That damn popcorn ball used to be the pride of our city. It's so senseless." Even as volunteers worked tirelessly to clean up debris from the World's Largest Ball of Yarn in Rockford, IL, the city's mayor had already invited Guinness World Records officials to oversee the dedication of the World's Largest Knot.

Connecticut Big Stuff Map

2008-05-09T12:47:00.000-05:00

There really isn't much in Connecticut to stop and look upward at. They have 1 and a half Muffler Men (assuming that either the torso didn't return or the pants didn't disappear) a private dinosaur haven, a car wash with tons of vintage and kitschy stuff, including a giant Santa, and some large frogs on a bridge.

Photo by fzzygalore.

The Wells Dinosaur Haven is a dinosaur sculpture garden, of sorts, on private property. There are over 35 hand built dinosaur sculptures in a wooded setting. It appears to be open to the public as long as you ask permission first.

Map of Rhode Island Big Stuff

2008-05-05T12:29:00.002-05:00

I decided to knock out a couple easy maps and what better place to start than the smallest state in the Union, Rhode Island. There isn't much for big stuff in Rhode Island, but they have made a huge contribution to the big stuff community. Rhode Island is home to Nibbles Woodaway, the World's Largest Termite. In fact, he is the world's largest bug.

Photo by stgermh.

Here's another angle of Nibbles.

Nibbles stands on top of New England Pest Control. You can find out more about him at their website, BlueBug.com.

Providence is home to Hasbro, the toy company who makes Mr. Potato Head. To honor the iconic toy line, a mass community arts project was launched where 37 oversized Potato Heads were distributed and customized by local artists and companies. At least a few are still around. Here is an article about it.

World's Largest Art Tractor

2008-04-28T12:04:00.001-05:00

March 20th, 2008 - New York Mills, MN

This was our last stop on this trip. This giant tractor is located on the north side of Highway 10 in New York Mills at the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center Sculpture Park. The tractor was created by Ken Nyberg out of welded steel. Nyberg has a number of other sculptures in central Minnesota, most notably at the Vining Sculpture Park. The tractor is also the logo for the Cultural Center.

Nyberg signed this piece with his welder.

New York Mills is a unique town. It's a small farming community in central Minnesota, but is very close to the many lakes of Ottertail County. New York Mills puts a high value on art and culture, lead by the Regional Cultural Center. It's claim to fame is the Great American Think-Off. The Think-Off is open to anyone and everyone and is now in it's 16th year. Contestants submit an essay on the topic for the year and a panel selects four finalists. The finalists debate the topic in New York Mills and the audience votes to decide the winner, or "America's Greatest Thinker". Past finalists have included teachers, priests, retirees, a 15 year old cheerleader, writers, and others from many states. This year's topic is “Does immigration strengthen or threaten the United States?” The final debate will be June 14th.

Giant Ice Cream Cone

2008-04-23T12:26:00.001-05:00

March 20th, 2008 - Wadena, MN

Day 2 of our trip didn't get off to a great start. It was a little colder and windier than the previous day and we were having trouble finding a 14-foot tall ice cream cone. According to a book, there should have been a 14-foot tall ice cream cone in front of Down Home Foods in Wadena. We eventually found Down Home Foods after a few trips up and down Jefferson Street, but there was no ice cream cone. The internet tells me that the ice cream cone is abandoned behind a KFC. I trusted the book. This doesn't look good for you, books, especially after the blacksmith thing. It looks like the internet beat you again. And people keep saying I should read books. (Although, had I noticed the internet and the book differed, I would have checked both.)

Photo from Roadside Architecture

The internet also provided me a picture. It's kind of a sad looking cone, like the concrete ice cream has been melting slowly for years. We aren't too concerned about missing this one. In the grand scheme of Big Stuff, this is just a tiny blip. If we find ourselves in Wadena again, we will probably try to find it again.

Aitkin Blacksmith Update

2008-04-22T12:19:00.000-05:00

According to anglerove, the blacksmith is alive and well and is now inside the new Aitkin Iron Works building. He is unsure of the blacksmith's availability for photos, however. For just a little more background, see my previous post on the subject.

Thanks again, anglerove.

Paul Bunyan Bowl

2008-04-20T22:57:00.006-05:00

March 19th, 2008 - Baxter, MN

This was our last stop on this long, wonderful day of Big Stuff that began with a stop in Princeton to see a Happy Chef that has found a new gig. This Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox stand outside of Paul Bunyan Bowl in Baxter, MN. The bowling alley is owned by the same family that used to own the Paul Bunyan Amusement Center, which closed in 2003, but much of it remains in use.

This Paul is a Muffler Man. The defining characteristic of a Muffler Man are the hands, with the right palm up and the left palm down. This type of Muffler Man is usually referred to as a Bunyan or Lumberjack Muffler Man. This Paul was previously in Sullivan, MO, where he clutched an ax. It was purchased, restored, and moved to Baxter sometime in 2003 or 2004 and now holds a bowling ball in his right hand. He also sports a lovely pair of Nike boots. I had no idea Nike made boots, especially in that size. He must have had to special order them. Babe looks to be munching on bowling pins.

Tip: Keep Babe away from your bowling pins.

Babe the Blue Ox

2008-04-16T12:01:00.000-05:00

March 19th, 2008 - Brainerd, MN

This Babe used to be part of the Paul Bunyan Center in Baxter, MN. The Paul Bunyan Center opened in 1950. The centerpiece of the Center was a 26-foot tall statue of Paul Bunyan that greeted children by name. In 2003, the Center closed due to the high cost of running the park. A local business, This Old Farm, bought Paul and Babe and many of the rides and moved them out to their property 7 miles east of Brainerd. Soon the amusement park reopened as Paul Bunyan Land.

Now you see, I knew that Paul and Babe had been moved to a farm east of Brainerd. And I knew that the farm was on highway 18 somewhere. What I didn't know, or realize, was that they were still in amusement park form. I had kind of figured that they had been "saved" by somebody and moved out to their property where they would sit, undemolished. I was somewhat right. I could have figured this all out with a little bit of research, but I thought I had it all figured out already.

It turns out that Paul Bunyan Land is only open from Memorial Day through Labor Day and is closed for the winter. I guess it's just not as amusing when you can't feel your fingers. I was a little concerned that this stop on our trip might not work out, but I stand by the trip regardless. Babe stands out in the parking lot to greet visitors, so we were able to get plenty of pictures with Babe. (You can see that he still had lights on him from the holidays.) You have to pay to go inside the park to see Paul. That's fine, I like Babe better anyway.

We tried to see if we could get a peak of something Bunyan from outside the chain-link fence, but, apparently, Paul either hibernates or is a flight risk as he is all caged up in the off season. So we didn't end up getting to see this Paul Bunyan, but we did see Babe and that's a plus. We aren't concerned about it. We can find a way to get out to Brainerd some summer and actually see Paul.

Tip: Try visting in the summer.

Sea Serpent

2008-04-09T12:39:00.001-05:00

March 19, 2008 - Crosby, MN

Native American legend, or a local marketing campaign, has it that a creature named Kanabec has been living in what is now Serpent Lake. There is a seeming lack of evidence to support the existence of such a creature in Serpent Lake, but that only begs the question, what is the life expectancy of a northern Minnesota sea monster? I mean, I don't know how far back these Native American legends date, but I'm guessing that that would be one really old sea serpent if he/she were still alive today. It's likely that this serpent is now "swimming with the fishes", which makes a sighting by your average fisherman difficult.

This very colorful statue was erected in 1977 in a park on the east end of Serpent Lake. It stands about 20-feet tall.

Crosby is also home to the Viking (not the football team ... mostly) themed Nordic Inn Medieval B&B.

Here's an interesting bit of trivia about the town of Crosby that I found on Wikipedia.

"In the 1932 local elections, the voters of Crosby elected Karl Emil Nygard as President of the Village Council and thus became the first city in the United States to have a Communist mayor."

Was Kanabec a Communist? Or perhaps his/her disappearance was part of some kind of Communist cover up. We will probably never know.

Leaping Deer

2008-04-05T18:57:00.003-05:00

March 19th, 2008 - Deerwood, MN

Located on the east end of town right on Highway 210 is a large buck leaping over a log. It is approximatley 15-feet tall and 20-feet long. This is one of the more abstract big stuffs. On first look you may ask yourself, "Now why would they have a buck leaping over a log in Deerwood?" Bear with me while I try to explain this one, it's a little tricky. A buck is simply a male deer and a log is wood, so another way to look at it is a deer leaping over some wood. Deer + wood = Deerwood. I hope that was clear. It's a puzzle just as complex as the pelican by the rapids in Pelican Rapids or the three blackducks in Blackduck or the buck with a star in its antlers in Starbuck, this is a regular sized buck though.

According to my brother, the Deerwood deer was dressed in blaze orange during last year's deer hunting opener. Smart move.

Missing, Feared Dismantled - Aitkin Blacksmith

2008-04-03T12:27:00.003-05:00

March 19th, 2008 - Aitkin, MN

We drove into Aitkin in search for a 12-ft tall blacksmith residing on top of the Aitkin Iron Works building at the corner of 1st Avenue NW and 1st Street. Missing from that location was the blacksmith and Aitkin Iron Works. According to their website, a new building was built in 1999 at 301 Bunker Hill Drive. From available photographs and satellite surveillance (Google Maps), the blacksmith does not appear to be on their new building. If you have any information on the whereabouts of this blacksmith, please contact The Big Stuff Project via the comments section.

Robin Hood

2008-04-02T12:36:00.001-05:00

March 19th, 2008 - Garrison, MN

This giant Robin Hood is located just north of Garrison on Highway 169. He stands guard over the gate to Sherwood Forest, a private RV resort. Considering that the requirements to stay at Sherwood Forest seem to be that you need to own an RV and a lot in the forest, it would appear that Robin Hood may have deserted his cause. I hope there's a good explanation, but we couldn't get him to talk.

The Garrison Walleye

2008-03-28T11:52:00.000-05:00

March 19th, 2008 - Garrison, MN

Across the lake from Isle is the town of Garrison. Garrison definitely does claim to be the Walleye Capital of the World. The Garrison walleye stands in a place of honor, not just in front of some bank. This walleye is in the center of a kind of scenic overlook park type thing right on Mille Lacs. Here you can park your car and enjoy the walleye and the view of the lake. Or you can crack your window and eat your lunch in the car because it's maybe a little too cold to sit outside that long and the only place to sit would have been on a cold stone wall overlooking a frozen lake, as we did.

Garrison's walleye is bigger than the Isle walleye and at 15-feet it's shorter than the big mean walleye, which is fully extended, but it may still be larger overall.

Tip: I cannot stress this enough. Mmmmmmm.......walleye.

Big Mean Fish

2008-03-27T11:48:00.001-05:00

March 19th, 2008 - Isle, MN

If you are in Isle visiting the giant walleye at the bank and find yourself saying "I would really like to see more giant fiberglass fish like this one but with an angrier disposition and huge teeth," then you are in luck. Just head a mile north out of Isle on 47 to Johnson's Portside Bait and Liquor, it's your one stop shop. At Johnson's Portside you can get gas, food, bait (don't confuse those last two), liquor, shirts, fishing licenses, and real estate. Ok, the real estate is next door, but they share the same building.

There are two big mean fish here. The first is a big mean muskie and the second is a big mean walleye. Both are 20-feet long. And mean.

Giant Walleye - 1 of Many

2008-03-25T11:37:00.001-05:00

March 19th, 2008 - Isle, MN

This giant walleye is prominently displayed in front of a bank on Main St. in "Downtown" Isle. Isle is a small town on Mille Lacs Lake, a haven for fishermen in summer and winter. Isle once claimed the title of "Walleye Capital of the World". This giant walleye once had a sign proudly boasting said title, as seen in the following photo from June, 2000. It's unknown to me what happened to the sign. It's also unclear whether or not Isle still makes this claim. It is clear that the landscaping has changed.

Photo by Tiffibunny.

The race for the walleye capital title has more candidates than this year's presidential campaign had, it seems. There are five Minnesota towns alone that have a hat in the ring, including cross-lake rival Garrison. The battle for walleye supremacy isn't nearly as contentious as the fight for the title of "Icebox of the Nation" was. Thankfully, the good guys won that one.

Tip: Mmmmmm......walleye.

Repurposed Happy Chef

2008-03-23T22:34:00.003-05:00

March 19th, 2008 - Princeton, MN

Our trip got started with the super awesome incredible happy surprise I mentioned. As we were driving north on 169, I spotted this Happy Chef statue along the side of the road. I turned around as soon as I could and we pulled up in front of him for a photo. We had no idea he was there and we were both very pleased to have found him. It really was a great start to the trip.

This Happy Chef was obviously one of the lucky ones. He looks very good and has a nice new paint job. He now stands in front of A-Z Restaurant Equipment Company just north of Princeton and is clearly visible from the highway.

I don't know the history of this statue, so I can't tell you which Happy Chef restaurant he belonged to or how long he's been at A-Z. If anybody knows anything about this guy, I would love to hear from you.

Day 2

2008-03-20T14:13:00.002-05:00

We are at my parents' house now. Today was just as sunny, but was a little colder and a lot windier. We only really had one stop today, so we didn't have to spend much time outside. That stop was a good one, so it was worth standing out in the cold wind.

You may not see any posts about our stops until Sunday. I'm not sure if I'll be able to upload my photos from here. We didn't bring the USB cable and I don't know if our card works in the card reader on this computer.

On the Road

2008-03-19T17:08:00.002-05:00

We are at our hotel in Baxter, MN. We had a gorgeous day today. The temperature was in the 40s and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. It was perfect conditions for taking pictures, well except for the snow, slush, water puddles, and mud, but that's what you get in Minnesota in March. The bottom of my pant legs are still a little damp.

We had one super awesome incredible happy surprise and a couple less successful moments, but I was a little concerned about those to begin with so I wasn't too let down. Further details will become available as I blog about each stop.

Spring Break!

2008-03-19T00:10:00.002-05:00

My wife is on Spring Break, so I am taking a few days off of work and we are going on a mini Big Stuff trip on our way to visit my parents. We are leaving in the morning and there will be a lot of stops tomorrow and a couple more stops on Thursday. I may or may not blog from the road. I guess there's only one way to find out.

International Spotlight: Giant Lobster

2008-03-10T00:12:00.000-05:00

Larry the Lobster
Kingston South East, South Australia

Photo by Johnsyweb

He is 18.2 meters tall, which is roughly 59 feet, and he is made out of fiberglass. Kingston SE is one of the best lobster fishing areas in all of Australia.

Tip: If you are visiting Kingston SE, order the lobster. I got a hunch that it's good.

Map of Illinois Big Stuff

2008-03-08T16:54:00.004-06:00

Photo by army.arch.

Illinois is home to the World's Largest Catsup Bottle, World's Largest Abraham Lincoln Statue, a number of Muffler Men, a few Big John statues, and Superman, among other things.

Perhaps the most famous Illinois Big Stuff is The Spindle. It's a bunch of cars on a spike. It was featured in the movie Wayne's World, as you can see in the clip below (it's at the end). There is also a giant Indian too. The Spindle is in danger of being lost. There are plans to take it down to make room for a Walgreens. It's still unknown what will happen to it because the cost to move it is high, especially if the cars are in tough shape.

Fallen Heroes: Stonefridge - A Fridgehenge

2008-03-07T11:54:00.000-06:00

Santa Fe, NM

Photo from RoadsideAmerica.com

Stonefridge, if you haven't figured it out, is a recreation of Stonehenge using old refrigerators. It was built northwest of Santa Fe at a closed city dump, Paseo Las Vistas, by artist Adam Jonas Horowitz as a "monument to consumerism & the hubris of man". It was damaged this summer by a storm and was dismantled in May.

Here is an article from June 8, 2007 about the dismantling of Stonefridge.

Photo by Scott MacLeod

International Spotlight

2008-02-22T00:19:00.000-06:00

I realize that I haven't been posting as often. I will try to change that. It takes a little more time and effort to research for posts about "Fallen Heroes" or music than it does for posts about places we have visited, because, for the stuff we have visited, I have done most of the research beforehand. We are working on plans for a little Big Stuff trip in March, so stay tuned folks. I also would like some more variety than Fallen Heroes, music, music, Fallen Heroes, and the occasional map in my posts between visits. That brings me to my newest addition, International Spotlight.

I will be featuring various big stuffs from outside of the U.S. We aren't the only ones that love big stuff. Just look to our north. Canadians are quite big stuff crazy. While a lot of these posts may come from Canada, there are other nations as well that enjoy their big stuff like Australia, New Zealand, and Germany. So let's get it started.

Chuck the Channel Cat
Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada

Photo by ehmeelu

Chuck is a catfish, is 25 feet tall, and was built in 1986 out of fiberglass. Chuck was built in an attempt to promote tourism to the town. Selkirk is located just north of Winnipeg on the Red River. Selkirk is also home to a large ox cart. Crookston, MN claims to have the World's Largest Ox Cart. The World's Largest Catfish is also on the Red River in Whapeton, ND.

Time for a perfect cross-over post. I am going to add a song to the soundtrack list. I had meant to include it in the fish theme post, but forgot to, and it ties in perfectly with this post.

Please Come Back - by Catfish Haven

The band name alone warrants a spot on the soundtrack. Plus, they are pretty good, so I couldn't deny them. I chose this song because I'm sure the towns that build big stuff would like you to come back again for another visit. I also considered Crazy for Leaving. This is the perfect cross-over post because of the fish theme of the last music post, the catfish thing, and the fact that Catfish Haven are signed to the Simply Canadian record label (even though they are from Chicago).

You can hear both of these songs at Catfish Haven's MySpace page.

The P-38 Fighter Jets have Moved

2008-02-13T16:31:00.002-06:00

I drove past Owatonna this weekend and I nearly freaked out when I didn't see the jets where they belonged. The jets were gone and the place had been turned into an RV lot. Luckily, the jets had been moved only about a half mile south to the Owatonna airport. They are still visible from the highway and are on the same frontage road that runs past Cabela's and the former location of the jets.

More on the Jets

The Soundtrack: Fish Tales

2008-02-04T22:28:00.000-06:00

There are a lot of oversized fish on the dockett for The Big Stuff Project. We have not been to any yet, but they are out there and they are numerous. Here are some fish themed songs/bands for your Big Stuff mix.

Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - by Radiohead

Radiohead just released a new album, In Rainbows, in October, you may have heard of it, where you could buy the download for whatever price you wanted. The CD is now available in stores. I really like this album. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" is one of the songs off of it.

You can listen to the song on Radiohead's MySpace page.

Big Fish - by 3 Minute Hero

3 Minute Hero was/is a ska band out of Moorhead, MN. It's unclear to me whether or not they are actually still playing together. You can hear some of their other songs at their MySpace page.

Spin the Globe - by Reel Big Fish

No fish theme is complete without Reel Big Fish. Reel Big Fish is another ska band. Their biggest hit was the song "Sell Out". They have also written such classics as "Everything Sucks", "Beer", "I Want Your Girlfriend to Be My Girlfriend Too", and "Why Do All Girls Think They're Fat". "Spin The Globe" is their most appropriate song for this compilation. They have a lot of music and videos on their MySpace page.

The playlist so far:
Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota - Weird Al Yankovic
Stevie Nix - The Hold Steady
Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight (or Heavy D & the Boyz)
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
An Ear For Baby - The Thermals
Minneapolis - That Dog
Minnesota - The Push Stars
Minnesota - The Mountain Goats
Say Shh... - Atmosphere
We Got as Far as Minnesota - Kind of Like Spitting
Minnesota Moon - The Big Wu
Minnesota - Northern Light
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - Radiohead
Big Fish - 3 Minute Hero
Spin The Globe - Reel Big Fish

Fallen Heroes: Henry Leuhr's Bull

2008-01-26T17:04:00.000-06:00

Picture from RoadsideAmerica.com

Henry Leuhr was a Hereford rancher from North Dakota, somewhere near Jamestown I believe. Henry decided to build a giant Hereford 30-feet tall and 50-feet long by laying strips of wood one on top of another and cementing them in place. As you can see, he also built stairs on the front of the bull. He also had more stairs on the inside and a hole in the top so you could sit on top of it.

After Henry died in 1996, the bull fell into disrepair. His son moved the bull two years later to Buchanan, ND where it sat outside of a small bar. There is stood deteriorating for years because it was too expensive and time consuming to repair. It was reported gone in January of 2007, according to Roadside America.

The Soundtrack: Another Song About Minnesota

2008-01-20T20:59:00.000-06:00

My mother has informed me that Northern Light had recorded "Minnesota" and that it reached #88 on the top 100 in 1975. You can listen to the song here. There is some other information about the group on that page too. Apparently, they have been inducted into the Minnesota Rock/Country Hall of Fame.

The playlist so far:
Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota - Weird Al Yankovic
Stevie Nix - The Hold Steady
Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight (or Heavy D & the Boyz)
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
An Ear For Baby - The Thermals
Minneapolis - That Dog
Minnesota - The Push Stars
Minnesota - The Mountain Goats
Say Shh... - Atmosphere
We Got as Far as Minnesota - Kind of Like Spitting
Minnesota Moon - The Big Wu
Minnesota - Northern Light

New State Map - Pennsylvania

2008-01-17T12:03:00.000-06:00

Pennsylvania's Lincoln Highway is littered with roadside attractions. Not all of them are Big Stuff, but there are a few along the way. Pennsylvania is home to a few giant Amish statues, a really creepy pie woman and child, a variety of Muffler Men, and a pub that serves the World's Largest Hamburgers. See the map.

Big Amos

Photo by insertadjectivehere.

As always, if I have missed anything, please let me know.

The Soundtrack: Minnesota

2008-01-10T18:03:00.000-06:00

I decided to include some songs about (sometimes loosely) Minnesota. Here are a few that I like.

Minneapolis - by That Dog

A song by this now defunct Los Angeles indie band about a long distance relationship. The guy is from Minneapolis, she is not. I found a fan video posted on their MySpace page. They also drop the name of the Duluth indie band Low in the song.

Here is the direct link to the video.

Minnesota - by The Push Stars

A fun, upbeat song. The best audio I could find is this incomplete live radio clip. If you really want to hear the song for free and don't mind watching a photo slideshow of kids you don't know, you can search for it on Youtube. There is a senior video from some Catholic school that starts with this song.

Minnesota - by The Mountain Goats

I really like this song. Unfortunately, I can only find 30 second sound clips of it on sites like Amazon.com.

Say Shh... - by Atmosphere

Minneapolis's Atmoshpere, masters of DIY indie hip-hop, "wanted to make a song about where they're from". Say Shh... is a tribute to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the whole Midwest.

Here is a live video from a performance at First Avenue.

There is another one here and a decent fan video here, although he cut off the end of the song.

We Got As Far As Minnesota - by Kind of Like Spitting

All I have for this one is an Amazon sound clip. You can listen to other songs at his/their MySpace page.

Minnesota Moon - by The Big Wu

The Big Wu were a Minneapolis jam band. They have a live version of Minnesota Moon on their MySpace.

Fallen Heroes: World's Largest Replica Cheese

2008-01-04T17:34:00.000-06:00

Image from RoadsideAmerica.com

The World's Largest Replica Cheese was built to honor and remember the World's Largest Real Cheese, a 17-ton Wisconsin made cheddar that was displayed at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. The cheddar was cut up and eaten in 1965.

The replica was built and placed in the Cheesemobile, a semi tractor with a refrigerated trailer that has (had) one plexi-glass side for viewing, that the original was in. It was then moved to Neillsville, WI. The replica was there for 40 years until it was sold in 2005 to a truck collector who was only interested in the tractor and not so much the giant polystyrene hunk of cheese. Go figure. Maintenance issues and expenses on the trailer were the reasons for the sale.

I don't know exactly what this replica cheese's fate was. Perhaps it still sits somewhere mostly unharmed, perhaps it was simply trashed, or perhaps it was used for the world's largest replica fondue. We may never find out for sure, but we do know that it no longer sits on display in Neillsville after 40 glorious years.

For more information on the World's Largest Replica Cheese, click here, here, and here.

2007 - Year In Review

2007-12-31T16:44:00.000-06:00

Our Christmas season is nearing an end. We have one more family Christmas party and one office party left. I've had some time to unwind from all of the travel and Christmas fun and now it's time to get back to blogging. We have pretty much exhausted all the big stuff stops along the routes to either of our parents' homes. However, I can say that the pelican was once again dressed for the winter and the crow was decorated with a large "Seasons Greetings" wreath on it's pedestal.

To wrap up the year, here is a brief end of year review of the Big Stuff we have visited in 2007.

May 12th - World's Largest Crow, Belgrade, MN
May 13th - World's Largest Twine Ball by 1 Man, Darwin, MN
May 13th - A Big Chicken, Delano, MN
June 3rd - Corn Gazebo, Olivia, MN
June 3rd - Big Cow, Bongards, MN
July 4th - World's Largest Coot, Ashby, MN
July 4th - Chief Wenonga, Battle Lake, MN
July 5th - World's Largest Prairie Chicken, Rothsay, MN
July 5th - Giant Canadian Goose, Fergus Falls, MN
August 28th - State Fair Gopher and Large Beef on Parade St. Paul, MN
October 13th - Chief Kandiyohi, Willmar, MN
October 20th - Giant Green Adirondack Chair, St. Paul, MN
November 24th - Giant Replica Runestone, Alexandria, MN

Happy Holidays

2007-12-20T12:18:00.000-06:00

Here's hoping that everyone has an udderly fantastic holiday season. And that's no bull.

We begin our 6 day Christmas extravaganza tomorrow that includes 4 Christmases and covers about 520 miles. See you all on the blog again in a week or so.

Soundtrack: Two for the Price of One

2007-12-17T16:40:00.000-06:00

I haven't been posting as frequently lately, so I am going to add two songs to the soundtrack list today.

Such Great Heights - by The Postal Service

Because big stuff are tall. And because it's a great song. Yes, it is the song from the UPS commercials, but try to get past that. It was a great song years before UPS got a hold of it.

You can hear it on their MySpace page.
The music video:

Some great covers:
Iron & Wine (set to a video someone put together)
Ben Folds

An Ear For Baby - The Thermals

After listening to The Thermals for a while, you may decide you would rather worship Rocky Taconite than God, that is if you are Christian. The Thermals write some politically and religiously (can't really seem to have one without the other) charged music. I chose The Thermals mostly because I like them and also because I can justify it based on my very loose guidelines. The song "An Ear For Baby" had the best title for the soundtrack. Exhibit A. World's Largest Ear of Corn For Baby?

You can hear other songs by The Thermals on their MySpace.

A live performance at NYU of "I Might Need For You To Kill" and "An Ear For Baby". "An Ear For Baby" starts at about 2:19.

The list so far:
Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota - Weird Al Yankovic
Stevie Nix - The Hold Steady
Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight (or Heavy D & the Boyz)
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
An Ear For Baby - The Thermals

Iowa Map

2007-12-11T12:23:00.000-06:00

Yay, more maps! The Iowa map is complete. Iowa is home to a wide variety of roadside attractions, so if you are planning a trip to Iowa and love more than just big stuff (like clock museums), do some research ahead of time. Iowa lays claim to some delicious big stuff; The World's Largest Strawberry, The World's Largest Popcorn Ball, The World's Largest Ice Cream Sundae, and The World's Largest Bull (Albert the Bull). Mmmmmmm......cow.

Thanks to Vast Wasteland for the pic of Albert.

One of the best, if not the best, small town claims to fame is Riverside's "Future Birthplace of James T. Kirk". They even had a model built of the USS...uhhh...Riverside, yeah that's the ticket, which has an uncanny resemblance to the USS Enterprise.

Image from Roadside America

As always, if I missed something, let me know.

Wisconsin Map

2007-12-09T11:46:00.000-06:00

My Big Stuff - Wisconsin map is done. Wisconsin has quite a collection going, but it doesn't quite compare to that of Minnesota. Wisconsin is home to a plethora of giant cows and oversized mice holding cheese. Wisconsin is also home to the World's Largest Penny, the World's Largest 6-Pack, the World's Third Largest Loon (Nice try, Wisconsin), the World's Tallest Grandfather Clock, a legitimate challenger to the World's Biggest Ball of Twine title, and a mythical beast known as the Hodag.

Hodag photo from RoadsideAmerica

Wisonsin's biggest contributions to the Big Stuff community are the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, which has the World's Largest Fiberglass Fish (world's largest fiberglass anything), and F.A.S.T. Corp., the company that makes many of these large fiberglass icons.

View Larger Map

If you know of any that I may be missing, please let me know. I probably missed a dozen mouse with cheese statues.

The Soundtrack: Appropriate Band Names

2007-12-03T12:04:00.000-06:00

I have found a few bands with names that are perfect for a mix like this. Unfortunately, I haven't found any songs by them that I care for enough to include on my list. But, if you are playing along at home, you may want to check these bands out. They are three bands from three different genres.

Big In Iowa - It is a perfect name for this mix. They have a honky-tonk sound and I'm not really a honky-tonk guy. They have some audio clips on their website. Oh, and they are from Ohio, not Iowa.

Giant's Chair - Ideal for visiting a giant chair. They classify themselves as an emo band. You can hear some of their songs on their MySpace page.

I, Colossus - These guys are a Minneapolis band with an electronica/indie/folk rock type of sound. I may change my mind about these guys with more listens. Their MySpace page.

Fallen Heroes: The Mighty Og

2007-11-29T11:49:00.000-06:00

The Mighty Og is (or was) the upper half of a giant gorilla made out of wire and paper, at least that is my understanding. It is also my understanding that his name was originally O.G., as in "Oh gee, that's half of a big ugly gorilla." At some point his name became Og. He was originally located at Rawhide City, a tourist attraction near Mandan, ND.

Picture of Og at Rawhide City. RoadsideAmerica

Reportedly, Og was purchased by an implement dealer in Harvey, ND when Rawhide City went bankrupt, as to keep Og in the state of North Dakota. He had planned on putting him on the roof of his building but did not because he was told it would void his roof warranty. Eventually he was given a spot along Highway 52 outside of Harvey to put The Mighty Og. There he rested, with a pole in his head that had a hornet on top of it for the Harvey Hornets, until a storm destroyed Og. From what I can tell, I'm guessing that storm was in 2005 or maybe 2004.

More pictures located here

Giant Replica Runestone

2007-11-26T16:16:00.000-06:00

November 24th, 2007 - Alexandria, MN

We were being very Minnesotan on this day. Few things are more Minnesotan than looking at an oversized replica of a Viking artifact when it's 32 degrees outside and quite windy (but we weren't cold because we are hearty Minnesotans and hearty Minnesotans are never cold, rather it was "brisk" out) and then going for ice cream. It can be 20 below and Minnesotans will still line up for ice cream. It's the key to Dairy Queen's success as a Minnesota franchise.

I talked a bit about the Kensington Runestone earlier when I posted about Big Ole. In brief, a large stone was found by a farmer near Kensington, MN with Viking runes carved into it in the late 1800s. The stone provides evidence that the Vikings were here before Columbus. Many people believe this stone to be a fake. The Runestone Museum makes a strong case for the stone.

The inscription in English, according to the Holland Translation, is:

On the front of the stone - We are 8 Swedes and 22 Norwegians on an exploring journey from Vinland through the west. We had a camp by a lake with 2 rocky islands one day's trip north from this stone. We were out and fished one day. After we came home we found 10 of our men red with blood and dead. Ave Maria save us from evil.

On the side of the stone - We have 10 of our party by the sea to look after our ships 14 day's trip from this island. Year 1362.

This replica is 5 times larger than the real runestone and is made from granite. It was commissioned by the Alexandria Kiwanis Club in 1951. Both the replica runestone and Big Ole went to the 1964 New York World's Fair.

We saw the power of the runestone first-hand. On November 4th, we were at the Minnesota Vikings game against the San Diego Chargers. The actual Kensington Runestone was on display on the plaza before the game (we didn't know this until they announced it before kickoff) and was on the sideline during the game. The Vikings dominated the Chargers with exceptional defense and a record setting performance by Adrian Peterson. That's right, the runestone was there as the Viking rookie set the NFL single-game rushing record. What more evidence do you need than that?

Tip: If you are visiting this replica stone on a Sunday, prepare yourself for the possibility of encountering church traffic.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-20T21:03:00.001-06:00

I wonder how long it would take to cook a 5,000 pound turkey? Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

The Soundtrack: Mr. Big Stuff

2007-11-16T22:23:00.000-06:00

Mr. Big Stuff - by Jean Knight

I'm sure most of you know this one. I guess it's a classic. I think we all know what it's about too, Oreo cookies.

Here's a terrible video someone made to Mr. Big Stuff. I mean it's terrible. For some people it might be can't look terrible, others train wreck terrible, and yet for others hilarious terrible.

Here's something for you straight out of 1986. I don't know about you, but I could go for a Coke.

The list so far:
Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota - Weird Al Yankovic
Stevie Nix - The Hold Steady
Mr. Big Stuff - by Jean Knight (or Heavy D & the Boyz)

Fallen Heroes: The Last of the Happy Chefs

2007-11-13T20:41:00.000-06:00

I was all set to do a Fallen Heroes post on the Happy Chef, but decided to try to confirm whether or not the Mankato Happy Chef was gone. I went to HappyChef.com and emailed them. They promptly responded Monday morning with this:

"The only statue left is the one in Mankato."

I don't normally post a picture of a Minnesota "target" until we visit it and photograph it, but I will make an exception this time. If you are unfamiliar with the Happy Chef, this is what the statues look like.

Picture from RoadsideAmerica

Happy Chef is a family-style restaurant chain founded in 1963 and based in Mankato. The chain grew to as many as 56 restaurants across 7 states. Many of them had their own Happy Chef statue. The statues stood 36 feet tall and had a button that would play a recorded message when pushed. Today there are only 16 restaurants left in Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota and only one statue remains.

A few Happy Chef statues managed to survive and find work elsewhere. A Happy Chef from Cedar Rapids, IA found work as a baseball umpire in Ryan, IA.

Image provided by Roadside Architecture

Another got a job as a chimney sweep in Kansas.

Picture thanks to Dorsia

There is a nice article from 2005 about Sal Frederick, the founder of Happy Chef, here.